Life-saving device.



J. J. REGTENWALD.

LIFEiSAVING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1911.

Patented July 30, 1912;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4 TTORNEY5 J. J. RBCTENWALD.

LIFE SAVING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1911.

Patented July 30, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

A TTORNE Y5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. YRECTENWALD, 0F MOUNT OLIVER BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

LIFE-SAVING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters latent. Patented July 30, 1912, Applicationfiled July 15, 1911. Serial No 638,667.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN- J. REOTENWALD, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing in Mount Oliver borough, in the county of Alleghenyand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Life-Saving Devices, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This inventl'onrelates to life saving .de-" vices especially designedfor a r craft, and

the invention resides in a novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specificallydescribed and then claimed. a I v Reference will now be had to thedrawings, wherein Figure 1 1s a side elevation of a portion of an aircraft in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a bottomplan of thesame, Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the craft, Fig. 4 is abottom plan portion of the craft illustrating a modification of theinvention, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the 3 same.

In the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a bi-plane of theordinary type, the bi-plane having the longitudinal rudder frames 1thereof connected by straps 2 beneath the lower plane of the machine,and suitably connected to said straps, as at 4 are collapsed flexiblebags or receptacles 6, which when inflated'constitute floats capable ofsustaining the machine upon the surface of a body of water, said bagsorreceptacles constitute floats and of a combined width substantiallyequal to the distance between flated to constitute a float cooperatingwith the floats beneath the bottom plane of the machine. 7

The bags or receptacles 6 and 9 are connected by branch tubes or hose 10to a pipe 11 in communication with a tank or reservoir 12, said tankbeing located in the rear of the drivers seat 13 of. the machine. The

or any suitable gas or gas producing sub stances or chemicals, the airor gas being retained under pressure, and the pipe 11 is provided with avalve 14 convenient to the operators seat 13, whereby the valve 14 canbe opened and the contents of the tank or reservoir 12 admitted to thebags or receptacles 6 and 9. It is preferable to store carbon-dioxid(C0,) or other fire extinguishing gases in the tank or reservoir 12,where by' thetubes 10 can be detached from the floats and the;carbon-dioxid or other gas used for extinguishing fire as might occur bya leakage in the. gasolene tank, pipes or other parts of the operatingmechanism of the air craft.

It is a well known fact that it is the practice of aviators toafollowwherever possible.

rivers and bodies of water and thereby lessen .tank 12 is adapted tocontain carbon-dioxid the danger of their lives being lost-should anaccident occur. As-an additional safety factor, I provide the floats inconnection with the air craft, not only to save the life of the operatorof thecraft, but to prevent the craft from sinking in the body of waterand becoming a total loss. When an aviator discovers that he 'mustalightu on a body of water, it is only necessary for im to open the valve 14to inflate the floats 6 and '9, and

these floats are of suflicient size to support the machine upon thesurface of the bodyof water. t

The air craft is provided with a water propeller designated 20 andmounted upon the end of a shaft: 23, journaled in bearings 22' carriedby frames 19 located at the base of the aircraft The shaft 23 isprovided with a sprocketwheel 24 and this wheel is driven by a chain 25passing over ag sprocket wheel 26 mounted upon the main driven shaft 27v ofthe air craft. The rear rudder 28 ofthe air craft can be used forsteering the ma chine either in the air or in water.

In Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings there 1s illustrated a modificationof-theinvention wherein additional propellers are shown to cooperatewith the propeller 20, said pro pellers being arranged to revolve inunison and two of said propellers in an opposite direction, to servefunctionally as a brake. The frame 19 is provided with two inwardlyprojecting brackets and journaled in said brackets are shafts 31.Mounted upon the outer ends of the shafts 31 are beveled gear wheels 32meshing with beveled gear wheels 33 mounted upon shafts 34, journaled inthe brackets 30 and bearings 35, carried by one of the frames 19.Mounted upon the shafts 34are propellers 36. The inner ends of the shaft23 are provided with beveled gear wheels 37 and adapted to alternatelymesh with these gear wheels are beveled gear wheels 38 slidably mountedupon the shaft 23 and adapted to rotate therewith. The beveled gearwheels 38 are connected by a collar 39 and this collar is shiftedthrohgh the medium of a connecting rod 40 having a forward end thereofpivotally connected, as at 41 to an operating lever 42 fulcrumed upon abracket 43, carried by the 'operators' seat 13. In addition to thepropellers 36 and 20, other propellers or paddles can be used bylocating the same upon the axles or spokes of the wheels of the craft.

lrVhat I claim is:

An air craft including a body portion, inflatable buoyantineanstherefor,adrive shaft for aerial propulsion arranged in the upperportion of said body, a propeller carried by said shaft and positionedrearwardly of said body portion, a rearwardly extending frame arrangedbelow and suspended from said body, inwardly projecting brackets carriedby the sides of said frame, a pair of outer propeller shafts for marinepropulsion, said outer shafts journaled in said brackets and said frame,propellers carried by said outer shafts between the brackets and theforward end of the frame, an intermediate propeller shaft for marinepropulsion journaled in said frame, a propeller carried by saidintermediate shaft rearwardly of said frame, means for operating saidintermediate propeller shaftfrom said drive shaft,and means foroperating said outer shafts from said intermediate shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 111 the presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN J. RECTENWALD.

\Vitnesses:

MAX H. SnoLovITz, KARL H. BUTLER.

